The Sky Alchemist
by kattails
Summary: A new member of the military is working under Colonel Mustang. Edward is mad when he is sent on a mission with his new partner, but when he truly gets to know her he starts to fall in love, that is, until he finds out her secret. Sorry about the bad summary, rated T for language and violence just to be safe. I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist!
1. Chapter 1

It was the day of the Alchemy Exams once again and by what the Colonel was seeing, it looked like nobody was going to make it. There were only five people who had made it to the final stage of the exam. The first was a very young man named Gabriel Flanders, he knew all the basics of alchemy but could do nothing extraordinary without dropping to the ground exhausted. Then there was Sabrina Coal, although her miniskirt was definitely a plus, her alchemy pretty much involved getting plants to grow an extra foot, something that can be seen in every small farming town. Next was an old man, Stephen Hedge, he was obviously the most promising with his metal alchemy, but it was nothing compared to Edward's. Lastly was James Hedrick, his alchemy was actually very impressive, it had to do with creating water out of the air, but he was confined to a wheelchair, and the state was way too biased to let him in.

Only four had actually attended the final part of the exam, Mustang's vote had been on a girl at the age of sixteen, named Clara Angel. He had found her in a small town on the other side of Amestris from Risembool, in the city of Conolo, although calling it a city would be a stretch. She was a lab rat with her best friend for most of her life, but when he found her, her best friend was nowhere to be seen, and she had two automail legs, she wouldn't tell him anything else. He had convinced her to try for the position of State Alchemist because the state would pay her and she really had nowhere else to go. She was easily as smart as Fullmetal and her alchemy was extremely unique, she used the charges in the air to create electricity then made a path for it to follow, easily creating lightning.

But she had yet to show up and he was getting worried about her quitting. Mustang stopped paying attention to the test and started staring at the door. To his relief the girl walked in not five minutes later, and late was better than never, right? She looked a little pale, but other than that she was fine. She walked to the center of the ring and quickly drew a transmutation circle, then pressed her hands to it and made a dummy to hit with her lightning, the dummy bore a strange resemblance to the Colonel and he had to smirk at that. She then took a few steps back and held up her hands, the transmutation circles tattooed on her palms glowed blue for a quick second, and then large lightning bolts hit the dummy from all directions, instantly burning it to a crisp. The air smelled like ozone.

The Flame Alchemist could see the Fuhrer smiling in his chair a few seats over and he knew she had gotten in. She turned around and looked directly at Mustang and smirked, then stalked of the field and out the door. The Fuhrer turned to him and said, "Did you recruit that one?" Mustang nodded. "Well good luck with her, she's on your team now." The Colonel gulped, he now had two wild kids on his team, he was starting to feel like a babysitter.

**. . . .**

Edward Elric burst through the door to the Colonel's office with the usual amount of noise. He stalked across the room and through his report down on the desk with an angry huff. "Here is your stupid report, I don't understand why I have to do them anyway!" He yelled rather angrily. He was still angry about the Colonel's way of blackmailing him into doing them correctly, then noticing the girl in the room for the first time, "And who are you?" his voice had quieted down considerably. In his opinion the girl standing in front of him was quite beautiful in a strange sort of way, though he'd never say it outloud. Her hair was a sandy dirty blonde color and it fell in long curls down to her mid-back. Her clothes were strange, too, she was wearing tight brown pants darker brown leather boots, but he couldn't see the top half of her, because she was wearing a knee-length emerald green cloak with a hood. Her eyes were the most striking part about her, one was a clear blue and the other was almost as green as her cloak.

He must have been staring because Mustang cleared his throat, "Fullmetal, be nice. This is Clara Angel, the Sky Alchemist, she will be working with you on your next assignment." It took a few seconds for Ed to process this but then he exploded, "I AM NOT WORKING WITH SOMEBODY ELSE AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Mustang didn't look surprised at the blonde's outburst, "I can make you, and I will. Plus it isn't like i'm making you leave Alphonse behind, I don't see what the big deal is." Ed did not look any less angry, "IT IS A BIG DEAL, WHAT IF WE GET INTO A FIGHT AND I HAVE TO PROTECT HER, I CAN'T HELP TWO PEOPLE AT ONCE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I CAN TRUST HER!" The raven haired man looked pleadingly at Clara, "Can you talk some sense into him? I'm sick of dealing with this."

The entire time the fight had been going on she had had a blank look on her face, now she had a small smile. She leaned in and whispered into Ed's ear just quiet enough for only him to hear, "I promise I will do the report for you if you want me to." Ed looked close to being convinced but not quite. "That still doesn't solve the problem of us getting into a fight…" Mustang chuckled, "This girl's skills in alchemy are as good if not better than mine, and she has the advantage of two automail limbs like you, I think she wont be needing any help."

Edward gaped at him, the Colonel would never admit to anyone being stronger than him. He must have stood there for a while because soon Clara was waving her hand in front of his face, "I'm sorry if you don't want to work with me still, but you don't really have a choice." He quickly resumed glaring at the Colonel and grunted a harsh "fine" and stalked over to sit on the couch.

Clara sat on the other side of the couch, with perfect ramrod straight posture, in stark comparison to Ed's slouching. Mustang began to brief them on their mission, "You will be sent to the south, to a small town south of Dublith, named Awbeziz. We have had a problem with a terrorist faction down there, they have been working their way up to Central, and they leave a large trail of destruction behind them. Your mission will be to take them out with as few casualties as possible, we don't have the troops to spare for backup, so you'll have to be on your own. The details are in the file that will be given to you shortly before the train ride." Ed looked calm again, he nodded, "When do we leave?" He asked. "Tomorrow morning." Replied The Colonel, "You're dismissed, but Fullmetal? You should stay a little longer I have something to discuss with you." Ed was in the process of leaving but sat back down on the couch grumbling, while Clara took her file and left.

When she was almost through the door she turned and said, "Hey, call me Angel, I really hate my first name." Then she slipped through the door and left to pack.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed got up grumbling about waking up early. The Colonel had kept him up late telling him to treat Angel with respect, it wasn't like he didn't already know that! He must have been louder than he thought because Alphonse noticed his foul mood, "Brother? What's wrong?" Ed smiled, his brother was always so concerned about him, "Nothing Al, just don't wanna wake up early is all." Al handed him his suitcase, "If you don't hurry we are going to be late, we don't want to miss the train again." Ed looked at the time, "Shit, why didn't you wake me up sooner!" He threw on his coat and took off running, his brother following slightly behind.

**. . . .**

Angel was waiting by the tracks sitting on two giant suitcases reading the file that was given to her by Mustang. When Ed and Al ran up she looked up and smiled, "You must be Alphonse, I have heard a lot about you." She shook his hand, although his dwarfed hers in comparison, "I-it's nice to meet you!" Al stuttered, all of a sudden nervous. Edward broke the silence that ensued, "Glad you guys met, but can we get on the train now? It's leaving in five minutes." She smiled at him again, then turned around and picked up her bags with ease.

On their way onto the train an attendant offered to take her bags to the luggage area, saying she could only have one carry on. When she handed him the bigger of the two bags he nearly fell over with how much it weighed, but she pretended not to notice and walked to her seat carrying her other bag like it was light as a feather.

She sat down in the window seat closest to the back and Al sat across from her, with no room next to Al, Ed had to sit next to Angel. When they were all settled she handed him his file, "I already read mine, but Mustang said that you probably wouldn't have, so you should probably read it now." Ed looked peeved that Mustang told her that, "I don't want to read the stupid thing, and why would I? The job seems simple enough." Both Angel and Al sighed at the same time, "You have to read it because, as you'll see, it isn't a simple job. They have three alchemists on their side and a large amount of chimera's. Now read the damn file or so help me, I'll read it to you, like your a child." Ed just sat there stunned for a while, then said, "Fine, I'll read the stupid file, but don't ever call me a child again." Angel just sat there smiling smugly at him. Alphonse let out the giggle he had been holding in the whole argument.

When Edward finished reading the file he looked over to see that Angel had fallen asleep with her head on the window. She looked almost distressed in her sleep, her eyebrows were furrowed and her lower lip stuck out. She twitched and mumbled something he couldn't quite make out, by then she had Alphonse's attention as well. She drew her legs up inside her cloak and made a weak whimpering noise, it was obvious that she was having a nightmare, and Ed had had his fair share of those, so he knew it was a bad idea to wake her. He decided to ignore it and hope she woke up soon.

About seven minutes later she started to talk quietly in her sleep, "I'm s-sorry… It's all m-my fault…" Then she said something that nearly broke Ed's heart, "P-please don't hurt me… Not a-again…" He had heard enough, and so had Al, "Wake up Angel, you're dreaming, wake up!" Al said, while Ed reached over and gently shook her. The talking stopped but her eyes didn't open, and she had the most terrified look on her face, like they were hurting her. Ed shook her a hard and her eyes flew open, and in a flash she had a knife out and it was pointed directly at Ed's chest, only his fast reflexes had stopped him from being impaled.

They stayed like that for a moment and then she realized what she was currently doing, "Oh, I'm so sorry! You just woke me up so suddenly and…" She quickly put the knife back underneath the cloak. Edward looked at her and saw shimmering tracks on her cheeks, "You're crying." he said as he reached out to brush the tears off her face, but he stopped last second, as if realizing what he was doing. She quickly turned away and wiped her face, while Ed resumed his seat beside her. Alphonse sat up straighter, "Do you want to talk about it? My mom said it helps to talk about it when you have a nightmare." He said, "And it usually helps brother." Ed shot him a pointed look, he didn't want to look weak in front of anyone, "I don't think she wants to talk about it Al."

"Do you really think it will help?" Angel asked so quietly they barely heard her, she was completely tucked under her cloak again. "Yeah, I think it will." Said Al. To both of their surprise, she started talking, "I had a best friend when I was little, we were inseparable, almost like siblings, but she went missing, nobody knew where she went. About two weeks later I was kidnapped, and taken to the same place as her. I don't remember much about the place, but I remember the man… he was an alchemist, and he experimented on the children he took. By the time I got there he had already turned her into a chimera, but he didn't know I knew alchemy and I escaped with her before he experimented on me, too." Her voice cracked and she took a shaky breath, "I promised her I'd turn her back, and she believed me. I studied in secret for a whole year before we tried, but it was useless. There's a reason human transmutation is forbidden. The forces of alchemy took my legs, and they took her h-heart, she d-died in my arms." She was crying really hard by this point. Edward was stunned, this girl had gone through almost exactly what he had, except his brother was still here to comfort him, her friend was dead. The guilt must be killing her.

He saw no other way to help her feel better, he told her his story.


	3. Chapter 3

"So...You're not alone." Ed finished. Angel had stopped crying about halfway through the story, and Ed was glad, he really didn't know how to deal with a crying girl. Al broke the silence, "If you've been through the gate like brother has can you...you know…" he made a clapping motion with his hands, like how his brother transmutes. Angel smiled and nodded, but Ed looked confused, "If you can transmute without a circle why didn't you show that to Mustang? He obviously doesn't know…" She leaned against the wall and sighed, like it should be obvious, "Roy doesn't know my story, even though he obviously knows yours. Don't you think he would eventually figure out the reason you transmute without a circle and find out why I do?"

Ed looked ashamed that he didn't think of that, but quickly changed the subject, "Why are you on a first name basis with the Colonel bastard anyway?" She giggled, "Because I am not a child who bursts into his office like rampaging elephant. Although you are a little bit smaller than an elephant, more like a mouse." Ed turned almost purple, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL IT TAKES A MICROSCOPE TO SEE THEM!" This caused both Angel and Al to burst out laughing. They spent the rest of the train ride in a routine of comfortable banter, like they had been friends for years.

. . . .

The train stopped for the night in Rush Valley at seven, it was still pretty light out, so they decided to go for a walk through the shops before they went to the inn. As it turned out Angel knew a lot about automail, not even close to as much a s Winry but enough to get by without constant tune ups. Ed was wearing his gloves, so he didn't get trampled by people trying to see his automail, but Angel had a completely different problem.

"Hey girl why don't you come home with me tonight?" called a particularly bold man, and with encouragement by him, other people started up as well. "Why don't you ditch the pipsqueak and come with a real man?" "Come on don't be a bitch!" Ed was about to beat them to a bloody pulp and Al wasn't far behind, but she just held up her hand in a silent gesture for them to leave it and kept walking. The first man became angered at her lack of response and stalked up to her, Al stepped in between them, but Angel just gently pushed him out of the way and calmly met the man's gaze.

"Why. Don't. You. Answer. Me. Sweetheart." He said with a barely controlled voice, not six inches from her face, obviously threatening her. She looked directly into his eyes and said, "Because I don't talk to pigs." That sent him over the edge, he raised his fist and brought it down at her face, but she wasn't standing there anymore. She quickly turned and kicked him hard with her automail foot in the middle of his stomach, sending him flying. He got up coughing heavily, "I can get you on assault!" he wheezed. Angel laughed, "Will they really believe you over all these witnesses and two state alchemists? I can get you on assault and sexual harassment of a minor and of a military officer, you could be sent away for life."

He looked terrified, almost as if he had just seen a ghost, "I-I'm sooo sorry Miss! I-I d-don't know what came over m-me! Please forgive me!" He grovelled, tears streaming down his face. Angel smirked at him, "I might just let you off on this one if you point me to the best automail mechanic here." He told her the name of four mechanics and exactly where to find them, tripping over his words in haste. "Thanks, now you should run along, before I change my mind." Ed had never seen a man run so fast.

"That was amazing, where did you learn to deal with people like that?" Al asked. Angel smiled, "A girl has her secrets!" She giggled, Ed looked slightly scared, "Remind me to never, ever, get on your bad side. Why do you need a mechanic anyway?" Her smile fell a little, "I've never had the money to get quality automail, now that I have research funds, I would like a quick tune-up." Ed nodded, he understood the feeling of having money all of a sudden after not having any.

They walked to the mechanics shop together in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Al had went to get them rooms before the hotel closed. They stopped in front of a slightly shabby building with faded paint, the sign on the door said "open" so they walked in. A young man looked up when the bell on the door rang, "Please come in. What are you visiting for today?" the question was directed at Ed, but he pointed at Angel, "She wants a quick tune-up and we have to be leaving tomorrow." The clerk looked surprised but got over it quickly, "Yes of course, right this way Miss."

As he led them to the back of the shop he said, "You know, we very rarely get anyone under the age of eighteen here, and especially not girls, I only thought it was you who we were going to do business with because you're the Fullmetal Alchemist." Ed looked surprised that he recognised him, "How'd you know it was me?" The clerk chuckled, "Well you're quite famous in these parts because of a certain young gifted automail engineer, and because you're really as short as they say." It took all of Angel's strength to hold him back from beating the crap out of him.

They entered the back room with only minor injuries on both sides (Ed was still apologizing for elbowing Angel in the face). There was a middle aged man in the room, he had black hair, a short salt and pepper beard and brown eyes with smile lines. The clerk told Angel to sit in the chair and then he left. The middle aged man spoke, "I'm Stephen. What brings you here?" Angel smiled warmly, "I'm Angel, I haven't had a tune-up on my legs in a while, they've been aching more than usual, too." She frowned slightly, but Stephen just nodded, "I've seen this a lot in young people who are still growing. Can I see you're automail?"

Angel blushed a little, "Of course… Umm… Edward could you wait in the other room, please?" Ed turned the color of a ripe pomegranate, he had completely forgotten that showing her automail meant taking off her pants. He quickly nodded and fled from the room. Stephen was stifling laughter, but he turned around to give her some privacy.

"Ready." she said once she was resting comfortably in the chair. Stephen turned and began examining her legs (that sounded less creepy in my head). The longer he looked the paler he got, "Angel… How long have you had this automail, exactly?" Angel gave him a confused look, "I don't see how that matters, but if you have to know, about ten years." The mechanic blanched, "Are you saying you've had these since you were around five?! No wonder they are aching! How many tune-ups have you had since then?" Angel looked away, "I had to get them extended five years ago but I haven't had a tune-up since…" A look of pity crossed Stephen's face, "I'm going to have to adjust the ports, and probably pull an all nighter to get you on your train tomorrow, it's going to cost you…"

There was a silence until Angel said, "Do what you have too, I'm a state alchemist so I have the money." He looked at his feet knowing the pain he was going to cause her, "Please come this way, most of my better tools are in the other room." He led her out of the room and into a larger room with an operating table in the center, Angel was very pale but got on and settled down.

"Do you mind if i go get Edward and my assistant? I'm probably going to need both of their help to get the procedure over with quickly." Angel shook her head, to afraid to keep her sense of modesty. The man left the room and came back a few minutes later with his assistant and a very serious Edward. Ed came over to her and looked at her automail, "How did you even walk on that?" He asked. She looked up at him, "One step at a time obviously." They laughed at her joke but it ended quickly. By then Stephen had set up the tools he needed on a cart and wheeled it over, his expression grim, "Edward could you stand behind her and steady her shoulders please?" Ed did what he was told, but was careful to be gentle.

"This is going to hurt a lot, I won't lie to you, but I need you to stay as still as possible." Angel nodded and he and his assistant worked together to get her automail off, then he began to work. Angel threw her head back and whimpered loudly, tears beginning to stream down her face as she clenched and unclenched her jaw. Edward had to work much harder to hold her down the farther they got into the operation, and it killed him. He hated seeing a friend in this much pain, especially when he knew what it was like, that it felt like your entire body was on fire and the stumps were being repeatedly stabbed with a thousand knives. All he wanted to do was to push them away and make them stop but he couldn't, and it killed him.

When they stopped, after what seemed like hours, Angel slumped heavily onto the table, completely exhausted. Edward released his grip and walked around so that he was standing next to her, and gave her a small concerned smile, and she smiled back. The mechanic walked back over after washing his hands, "You should go back to your hotel and get some rest, i'll have your new legs ready by tomorrow at seven. We have a wheelchair, so you won't have to carry her." He directed the last part of the sentence at Ed, who smiled gratefully.

Ed pushed her back to the hotel in silence. Al had gotten them two rooms and her luggage was already in hers. He pushed her over to the bed and left the wheelchair where she could reach it if she had to get up.

"Goodnight, Edward" Angel said sleepily. Ed smiled, "Goodnight Angel." And as he went back to his room he thought "My angel…"


	4. Chapter 4

Angel woke up to Alphonse knocking on her door, "Um… Angel? Are you awake? We have to get down to the auto mail shop before the train leaves." Angel looked at her watch, it was seven and the train left at eight, it would be cutting it close, "Thank you Alphonse… Do you think you could help me out? The wheel chair rolled away while I was asleep and I can't reach it…" Angel's face was red as a tomato for having to ask him that, she hated sounding weak, "Oh... of course I can!" Al rushed into the room and helped her into the chair, if a little awkwardly, "You know, I wish brother would ask for help sometimes… he's always trying to be so strong…"

"Are you talking about me behind my back?" Both Al and Angel jumped at Ed standing in the still open door, "Come on we have to get going." Al let out a sigh of relief, he didn't think his brother was going to let that go.

They paid the hotel for their stay and quickly left for the mechanics shop with Angel holding Ed's suitcase in her lap while he pushed her and Al carrying Angels giant bags. The walk was slow but they still got there with a few minutes to spare. The clerk from earlier answered the door, since they had to come before they officially opened to make the train. He ushered them into the back room where Stephen was already waiting for them.

"So, are you ready to get your legs back?" He asked excitedly while digging around in a box for the auto mail. Angel smiled and nodded, still a little nervous about reattaching them.

"Do you need any help?" asked Al, still holding Angel's bags. He looked as worried as a suit of armor can possibly look.

"No I've just found them and it should be easy to connect them. Are you ready? He asked Angel, his peppy manner gone. She set her mouth in a grim line and nodded. "Okay then, on the count of three, one… two… three!" and on three he expertly attached both limbs simultaneously. Angel let out a small whimper and threw her head back, but to her credit she didn't utter a single sound until the pain had faded about five minutes later.

"They feel a lot better now, would it be okay for me to try walking around?" she asked looking up at Stephen.

"Of course! Test them out, I love seeing satisfied customers!" Stephen walked over and gingerly helped her stand. She wobbled at first but soon began to get the hang of it. Her gait was much smoother than before and, to Ed's dismay, now the the legs fit her correctly she was about two inches taller than him. The legs themselves were a masterpiece, Stephen must have pulled an all-nighter to get them crafted like this, while Ed's auto mail was strong and harsh Angel's was lithe, beautiful, and extremely detailed. He noticed that on the shins of her legs there were small intricate birds and flowers carved into them. As if she read his mind Angel asked Stephen, "Did you do the carvings yourself? Why?"

"Yes, I did. Because I figure a beautiful young lady like you should have legs to match that beauty." He answered, smiling warmly, "Free of charge." Angel just stood there looking at him, then flung herself at him thanking him profusely, and promising him she would only come here from now on. They continued to chat for a while, with Angel testing out her new legs, until they heard the train whistle in the distance and realized how late it was. They thanked him and left running at a dead sprint, Angel leading the way with new found speed.


End file.
